Free Cheese, As Much As You Want
by dahdeemohn
Summary: Sami and Dean go out to a 7-Eleven after 04/14/16's Smackdown.
"ZAYN! Hold up!" a loud gravelly voice called out, stopping Sami in his track and causing him to turn around. From down the long hallway behind Sami, Dean rushed towards him at a full sprint. He didn't know whether he should prepare himself for...anything. Absolutely anything. When Dean came to a full stop in front of him, all grins, Sami's unease didn't lessen. "Hey buddy, good match out there tonight."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks. And uh, thanks for keeping Kev off my back, you didn't have to do that." Sami smiled politely, unsure why that comment warranted any of the energy that Dean expended.

"Nah, he was bein' a prick. Not cool." Dean shrugged nonchalantly, and Sami chuckled.

"Well I mean, when isn't he?"

Ha, right?" Dean laughed for a few seconds, then there was an odd pause. Before Sami could make an excuse to leave, Dean spoke up. "So uh, got any big plans tonight?"

"Hmm...not really, other than maybe putting on a dumb movie and passing out. Gotta prep for the flight to Dubai, y'know?"

"Yeah, for sure." Dean nodded thoughtfully. "But hey, I was thinking of maybe hitting up a bar down the road, you wanna maybe...iunno, go get a beer?"

"Ah, no. I'm sorry, that's not really my scene. Or thing." Sami apologized, and Dean's grin dropped to a reserved smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh yeah, sorry. That's cool man, I gotcha. Well, I'm gonna...I'll see ya around?"

"Sure," Sami nodded, and as he went to finally resume his course prior to interruption, he caught the slightly dejected look on Ambrose's face, something that he was certain that he wasn't supposed to see. Dean was an interesting character, to say the least, and now that Sami had thought about it, he never really saw him hanging out with anyone other than Roman, who was most likely on a flight to the United Arab Emirates; even then, he hadn't really seen the two together much lately. Not that it was anyone's business. Still, what did Dean do to entertain himself at night other than, if rumors were correct, work out and drink? Did he spend time with anyone else, or was he just...alone? Sami recalled the amount of times that Dean addressed cameras, the audience, anyone that would listen about how he didn't have a lot of friends, about how Roman was his ONLY friend. "Dean?"

"Yeah?" Dean had already migrated a few feet down the hall, but his head whipped around when he heard his name.

"I'm gonna head out to the 7-Eleven that I saw a few miles down the road. You want anything? Or maybe wanna come along?"

"Fuck dude, they got those cheeseburger bites. I'm down." Dean caught back up to Sami and followed him as they walked in the direction of the parking garage.

"What on earth's a cheeseburger bite?"

"Alright, so picture a cheeseburger."

"OK."

"Rolled up into a hotdog."

Sami made a face. "That's foul, Dean."

"Zayn, they give you free cheese, as much as you want. It's an unpassable bargain."

"I'll take your word for it." Sami located his car after a few laps around the garage, and unlocked the passenger side door for Dean. After they had settled in, Sami noticed Dean exhibiting several ticks that he himself knew so well: scratching, picking, and leg shaking. Enclosed spaces never seemed like Dean's thing to begin with. "You gonna buckle up?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry." Dean mumbled as he fastened himself in, then resumed his compulsive habits. Aside Dean's intermittent humming, the car ride to the store had mostly been quiet, and Sami racked his brain for anything that he could open up a conversation with that wouldn't be intrusive, but his thoughts were interrupted by, "You ever been out here before, Zayn?"

"I've been to San Diego, but not this part. I was at Comic Con last year, if that counts."

"Nah, I mean the Hellhole Canyon. There's all kindsa cool shit up in there, if you're into that. Lotsa mountain lions and snakes. One time I found a whole abandoned housing complex, there were like creepy kids' drawings an' shit, too. Probably pretty haunted."

"You believe in that kind of stuff?"

"I like to keep an open mind. The world's a big weird place."

"That's fair," Sami responded as he turned on his left turn signal and pulled into the parking lot of the 7-Eleven. Once they were parked, Dean ejected himself out of the rental car before the engine was even turned off and slammed the door shut behind him; however, he waited for Sami to finish and exit his side before he moved away from the vehicle, and even opened the store's door for him. "Oh, thanks, man."

"Sure, sure," Dean waved him on, and they both busied themselves in their respective areas. Sami picked up a package of trail mix and a bottle of coconut water, then joined Dean by the hot food section and watched the glass display case full of meat of indeterminate origin rotate towards them, never gaining traction or actually going anywhere. It was tough to tell which was the infamous cheeseburger bite as all of the food contained within was cylinder shaped, and Dean grabbed one of each variety, as well a bun to accompany them, then turned to the cheese dispenser to liberally coat each and every one of them in liquid orange goo.

"Kev would be having a panic attack right now," Sami watch horrified as the so-called cheese poured out of the nozzle.

"Why's that?" Dean took his hand off of the dispenser and admired his handiwork.

"He hates processed cheese. It genuinely freaks him out."

"Get the fuck outta here. Like Kraft stuff?" Dean's head shot up with an amused grin.

"Yeah, don't know why."

"Holy shit, I'm just gonna buy a pack and throw 'em at him during a match."

"Aw man, don't do that, it'll mess with him badly."

"What if like, next time you had a match, we put a bunch of Cheez-Wiz around the outside of the ring first? Use it like holy water to ward off an evil spirit."

"That might work. You probably know more about that kind of stuff than I do," Sami laughed as they brought their items up to the counter, and as he went to pull his wallet out to pay, Dean handed the cashier a $20 bill.

"This one's on me."

"You sure? I can-"

"Don't worry about it."

They returned to the car and Sami only turned the radio on and watched Dean inhale one cheese covered meat tube after another in gross fascination, thankful for the makeshift napkin bib that he had fashioned and now wore.

"How can you eat those? I'll admit that sometimes I don't eat so well, but that's on another level."

Dean shrugged. "They're like a buck each. I used to eat 'em a lot when I was homeless and makin' like $10 a night. These were dinner for a few years, y'know?"

"Oh." Sami felt awful. He had heard rumors and stories about Dean's past, but never put much stock into what people had to say about one another unless it came right from the source. "Things are looking a bit better now though, I take it?"

"You could say that, yeah. Got more money and a better group of people to associate with, now, anyway. Or person, I guess. I think. I dunno." Dean exhaled and pursed his lips, looking lost in thought. Sami looked forward, trying not to glance over and figure out whatever could run through Dean Ambrose's mind. "You're a good guy, Zayn. A lotta people like you. You got friends from NXT, they say nice things about you."

"Do they?" Sami laughed. "I feel like I annoy a lot of people, y'know. And hey, your best friend's the World Heavyweight Champion, I think that says a lot about your character as well."

"What, that I'm a drag and a parasite?"

"What? No. That you work hard and the company you keep works hard as well. You guys encourage one another to do your best. You've been there for Roman when no one else was, so you get some claim to that victory as well."

"Sure thing, Zayn." Dean laughed mockingly.

"You can call me Sami, you know."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's cool."

"And...yeah, you know, I wish I could look at it like that. Roman's been actin' weird, though. I don't think he really wants to be seen with me lately, now that he's champ and all and has a reputation to uphold or whatever."

"Nah, he's probably got a lot on his mind. You guys are like brothers. It'll be OK."

"Hope you're right."

"Yeah, well," Sami noticed that all of the food Dean previously possessed had now been consumed, so he turned the keys to start the engine. "You're always welcome to join me on late night 7-Eleven runs, for what it's worth."

Sami smiled at him, which Dean returned. "Thanks, Sami."


End file.
